Psychedelic Use Linked to Less Frequent Headaches

A new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has found that people who’ve used classic psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin (the active compound in magic mushrooms) at least once in their lives might be less likely to suffer from frequent, painful headaches. Using data from a large group of British adults, researchers discovered that those who used these substances at some point in their lives had 25% lower odds of reporting frequent headaches.

These results add to the growing interest in psychedelics as a possible treatment option for hard-to-manage headache conditions, including migraines and cluster headaches — both of which can seriously disrupt quality of life and are often not solved by current treatments available. 

The Hell of Headaches

Migraines affect about 15% of the population and typically come with throbbing head pain, nausea, and a heightened sensitivity to light and sound. Cluster headaches, though less common, have been described as some of the most excruciating pain a person can experience. Both types are usually treated with medications, but not everyone finds relief, and side effects can be a major issue.

The notion that psychedelics might help with headaches isn’t exactly new. Back in the 1960s, there were already some reports suggesting that substances like LSD and psilocybin could ease headache symptoms. More recently, small clinical trials have backed this up, showing that psychedelics might reduce both the frequency and severity of these painful episodes. These compounds work mainly by acting on serotonin receptors. Similarly, traditional headache medications target these receptors too. This overlap has made researchers curious about whether psychedelics could offer a new path forward in treating these conditions.

Current Treatments Leave Much To Be Desired

“People with cluster headache and migraine often have an important impact on their quality of life due to the severe pain they are suffering during headache attacks and also because the treatments we have for cluster headache sometimes lack in efficiency or can not be used because of secondary effects,” said Caroline Ran, a research specialist at the Centre for Cluster Headache at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet.

“For example, Triptans, the first line of treatment, typically do not work for a quarter of the patients. Because of this, there is a need to develop new treatments for primary headache, and as people with headache (most typically cluster headache) sometimes report that they have self-medicated with psychedelic substances with great success, we believe that these compounds need to be investigated more closely.”

Luckily, A Large Sample Group Were On Hand

To dig deeper into this idea, the researchers turned to data from the National Child Development Study, a long-term British project following individuals born in 1958. Out of over 11,000 participants, researchers focused on those who had answered questions in adulthood about their health and drug use.

Participants were asked if they often experienced “bad headaches” and whether they had ever tried classic psychedelics—specifically LSD or magic mushrooms. Those who answered “yes” to psychedelic use (even just once) were considered to have a history of using these substances.

The team then ran a series of statistical analyses to see if there was a connection between lifetime psychedelic use and frequent headaches. They also factored in a range of other variables, such as sex, marital status, financial health, weight, exercise habits, smoking, alcohol use, and use of other drugs like cannabis or ketamine.

Women’s Headaches Were The Most Reduced

Even after controlling for all those factors, the link remained: people who had used psychedelics were 25% less likely to report frequent headaches. And when the data was broken down by gender, the effect was even more pronounced among women. Women who had tried psychedelics were 30% less likely to report frequent headaches, while the association in men wasn’t statistically significant.

“There was a substantial difference between sexes, with a stronger effect in females which I was surprised by,” Ran told PsyPost. “Perhaps the difference is due to overall higher drug use in males, which constitutes a major confounding factor. We know that females are overall more severely affected by headache, and the results may also reflect underlying biological mechanisms.”

Interestingly, the effect didn’t seem to depend on how recently someone had used psychedelics — suggesting the benefits, if real, might stick around long after the experience itself. But the researchers are careful not to overstate their findings.

“We saw a lower proportion of headache in study participants who use psychedelic drugs in this analysis,” Ran said. “Because of the nature of the data we studied, we can not make any assumptions of cause and directionality of the effect. Which means that our study does not give any clear indications of whether these substances can be used as a treatment for headache.”

The Studies Are Small, But The Data is Strong

Still, this research adds to a growing body of evidence hinting at potential benefits. Small clinical trials have already found that psilocybin and LSD derivatives can reduce migraine symptoms and lessen the frequency of cluster headaches. One study found that just one dose of psilocybin could ease migraine symptoms for up to two weeks. Another reported that multiple doses reduced cluster headache frequency over a three-month span.

On top of that, there’s a rich history of anecdotal reports. Some people with cluster headaches claim that low doses of psychedelics help break headache cycles or prolong periods of remission. While these stories haven’t been rigorously tested in large trials, they do add to the momentum.

So what might be going on in the brain? One theory is that psychedelics affect serotonin pathways involved in pain regulation. Others suggest they might have anti-inflammatory effects or influence hormone levels like melatonin, which is known to play a role in headache disorders.

Of course, there are limitations to this study. For starters, the headache data was self-reported, not clinically verified. The researchers also couldn’t distinguish between different types of headaches—like migraines versus tension headaches — which might respond differently to psychedelic use.

“The data analyzed is from a cohort study collected for other purposes than this specific study,” Ran noted. “Therefore, the study participants who were included in the headache group have not been diagnosed by a physician, which is always a drawback in scientific analysis. We may have included individuals in our analysis that have so-called secondary headache which is caused by another underlying medical condition.”

Headache Prevention of the Future?

So there you have it. While the research may still be in its early days, it is certainly a tantalising prospect for those who suffer from headache complaints. In the future when you feel a migraine coming on, will the doctor suggest a psilocybin microdose? At this rate, it may not be such a crazy thought.